How to retrieve Install Statistics from the Google Developer's Console?

Are the developers working on Android at Google satisfied with the state of the Android ecosystem?

• I've been an Android handset user for three weeks and an iPhone user never.  I was jazzed about the opportunities that Android offers app developers (compared to, say, iOS), the open opportunity for hardware accessories, and about becoming a part of the Android community.  So I bought a Galaxy S phone. Over the past weeks, the dreadful realization of the state of affairs of the Android ecosystem has slowly came upon me.  Instead of a collaborative, thriving community comprised of vocal, enthusiastic developers and users alike, I found a flash-happy crowd of people too thrilled dealing in cargo-cult advice and speculation, and applications created by developers who are either averse or ignorant to the notion of "open source".  (You're a free app with no ads and no "pro" version, so where's your repo?) I've been a desktop Linux user for years.  I can deal with fragmentation; the notion of fragmentation doesn't scare me. But when I'm using my Captivate and run into bugs (where I'd be happy to pull down the source and fix!), how am I supposed to know, "Oh yeah, hey, this isn't even a bug in Android; this component was actually added by Samsung customizations (and therefore hopes to contribute―let alone to someday enjoy the fixes as an end user along with my other fellow handset owners―will prove fruitless)."?  And with such a massive epidemic of ROM madness, why is it so hard to find a pure Android ROM to use on my Captivate? I'm not overly hopeful.  I don't expect the Android situation to be like the desktop Linux situation; I don't expect Samsung and HTC and Motorola to take on the roles of Canonical and Red Hat and Novell and be as successful at producing surprisingly cohesive systems from such disparate building blocks. What I *had* hoped for is for the Android situation with Google to somewhat resemble the Mozilla situation.  Sure, it's open source, and there's no shortage of minor forks created by various established tech companies and no-name startups for you to go and try out.  But there's always Firefox (or SeaMonkey) to come home to (and contribute to!) when you find that you're not satisfied with those companies' inability to follow through. So my question is, are there any developers working on Android at Google who are excited about the potential in Android, but dismayed at the execution we've seen so far?  And what about the powers-that-be?  Is there any possibility of stepping in to change the direction towards building up a real community, instead of sitting content while letting handset manufacturers shit out a new device every few months, each with its own new deficiencies and customizations-as-an-afterthought?

• Answer:

  I know this really doesn't answer the question, but I think you should take a look at it. You should really take a look at http://www.projectara.com/, I think it is what you were expecting from android devices. Having a different hardware base for almost every device, will definitely have to bring android closer to linux distros like ubuntu. Because there won't be a common hardware platform, there will have to exist a driver base, and everything should move closer to open source because it will be so much harder to test on every combination of hardware. At least if I was in their place, I would definitely let users tweak everything to fit their needs. It means less resources for testing, and even developing